The culture of the German novel, prior to the emergence of its 'classic' writers within the first 1/2 the 20 th century (Thomas Mann, Kafka, Hesse, Musil), doesn't have an guaranteed position within the canon of eu literature. now not that it has sought after for lively advocates; yet, regardless of all efforts, it has remained firmly at the outer edge.

Coffman's writing is deft, able, and evocative. -Publishers Weekly he will support a girl in desire, regardless of the place she got here from. .. Alysandir Mackinnon principles his extended family with a good yet iron fist. He has no time for softness or, as he sees it, weak spot. but if he encounters a bewitching younger attractiveness who may possibly or is probably not a deadly undercover agent, yet is unquestionably in mortal hazard, he is pressured to aid.

4 THERE was a dwarf who lived in the lower levels of the ship, and I visited him often. His name was Pär. He was less than a meter in height—ninety-two centimeters, to be precise—yet he was strong and powerful. Although he was relatively well-proportioned, his head was slightly too large for his body; his face was heavily wrinkled, and he had always looked like an old man, even when he was young. We distrusted one another, but this was tempered with mutual respect and admiration—he for my position of influence with the captain, and I for his intelligence and cunning.

No one had said it aloud in the Executive Council session, but we all knew. “It doesn’t take brilliant analysis,” Pär went on. ” He shook his head, almost smiling. “There’s no one alive down there. ” Then he shrugged as if the matter did not concern him much, but I knew him better than that. ” Pär was the only one who called him that. ” I was always reluctant to be too forthcoming with Pär. We traded information—the real key to our relationship—and I didn’t like to give away what might later turn out to be valuable.

But someone had to do it. I did not make judgments one way or the other. According to the ship’s history, as recorded by Toller and his predecessors, there had been periodic attempts by downsiders to change the way things were done. I had even heard vague stories of a massive revolt, called the Repudiation, associated with some kind of plague three or four centuries earlier. Such efforts had never been successful. I had been through one attempted insurrection myself, six years earlier. It did not last long.